About the Program
Social Studies Education (SSED) is a comprehensive teacher preparation program aligned with state and national standards to prepare individuals to teach a variety of social studies subjects at the secondary (grades 5-12) level.
Faculty have designed SSED to prepare graduates who are able to develop informed and active participants in a diverse and democratic society. To achieve this goal, SSED reflects both best practices in teacher education and an emphasis on essential content knowledge.
Students complete extensive coursework in three areas: Historical Perspectives, Economics, and Government/Citizenship, and introductory coursework in the remaining social studies content areas. Students may also choose to complete additional concentrations in Psychology and/or Sociology. Professional education courses are taken throughout the program with field experiences built in each semester of the program.
This program meets state and national licensure standards and is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the State of Indiana, State Board of Education. Admission to and successful completion of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) are required.
The Social Studies Education Plan of Study outlines the required courses to complete the degree for licensure. For more information about the degree program, visit the COE Office of Advising and Recruiting. For teacher licensure information, visit the Office of Teacher Education and Licensure.
Social Studies Education Major Change (CODO) Requirements
College of Education Pass/No Pass Option Policy
Education majors (which includes the total credit hour requirement to fulfill General Education: Educational Studies and General Education: Curriculum & Instruction) are not eligible to receive P/NP for required courses on your plan of study. Only electives and courses at the 500+ level can have a grade mode change.
Spring 2020 was the only exception approved for the entire campus.
World Language Courses
World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor. (ASL-American Sign Language; ARAB-Arabic; CHNS-Chinese; FR-French; GER-German; GREK-Greek(Ancient); HEBR-Hebrew(Biblical); HEBR-Hebrew(Modern); ITAL-Italian; JPNS-Japenese; KOR-Korean; LATN-Latin; PTGS=Portuguese; RUSS-Russian; SPAN-Spanish)
Critical Course
The ♦ course is considered critical.
In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major. Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful. These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”.
